I’m going to write a periodic series about my top 5′s. Since my wife doesn’t always love being my captive audience, I’ll let you all be. I’ll start off with my top 5 favorite movies. Clearly, you’ll have differing view points. That’s the fun of this. Give me your top 5′s. Remember, I’m not claiming these are THE top 5 ever. They are just my favorite 5.

1. Rear Window (1954) – I love Hitchcock, and this is my absolute favorite. Jimmy Stewart is brilliant, as is Grace Kelly. In fact, it is extremely rare to find someone who’s beauty is matched by their acting talent. The exchanges between Stewart and Kelly offer much humor. I marvel at how well this movie holds up over time. It still keeps you on the edge of your seat.
2. Dark City (1998) – This mind-bending film from Alex Proyas came out around the same time as The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. All deal with our sense of reality, and whether anything is “real”. Each took separate paths to explore this concept. Dark City starts out as a film noir, but evolves into much more. Proyas cleverly takes the story from crime film noir to sci-fi to fascinating character study. Jennifer Connelly, Rufus Sewell and William Hurt are terrific.
3. Spaceballs (1987) – Mel Brooks has made several great movies, but I really love this one. I can probably quote most of the script from memory. Brooks successfully lampoon’s the two most popular sci-fi franchises: Star Trek and Star Wars. However, he lampoons other movies and genres as well. There is an especially funny dig at Alien.
4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – This is my favorite Christmas movie. In fact, I can watch it year ’round. Chevy Chase is at the top of his game. Randy Quaid is terrific. I’ve seen this movie dozens of times, and I still crack up at the sight of Randy Quaid wearing a white sweater with a black dickie. This is another movie I can nearly quote from memory.
5. Serenity (2005) – Even with all the press the Star Wars prequels received, I would have to say Serentiy is the best sci-fi movie of the decade. Joss Whedon made a magnificent movie. For those that don’t know, Serenity is a continuation of the short lived Firefly series. Fox grossly underestimated its popularity, and the groundswell of support got this movie made.

You may notice the lack of a Kevin Smith movie, but if I were doing a top 10, he’d be there. There are so many movies I could have put here. Rocky, Chasing Amy, To Kill A Mockingbird, High Fidelity and Swingers come to mind. Feel free to comment. I would like to see your favorites.